I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

13 Ways to Use Up and Preserve Fresh Strawberries

Strawberries hitting the stores is like the kick-off to spring. The first {affordable and in-season} round usually shows up around late March/early April {mostly from California}. If you have your own strawberry patch, you’ll have to wait a bit longer…either way, buy ’em up and grow ’em while you can. Even better, make sure to save some for the long cold days of winter..

Preserving

The easiest way to preserve strawberries is the freezer. Frozen strawberries can be used in smoothies or baked goods all year long. To freeze them remove the stem, rinse them well, and then lay them out to dry completely on a towel. Once they are dry, lay them on a Silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. This will allow them to freeze individually without sticking together. Once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer safe bag or container.

I like to use strawberries to add a little sweet to breads. Strawberry Focaccia with Balsamic Onions makes an awesome side to a summer salad. Strawberry Bruschetta is basically the easiest appetizer ever, and Strawberry Streusel Bread makes for a pretty awesome afternoon snack.

Desserts

Let’s be honest, strawberries and dessert should go steady. They were made for each other. Old Fashioned Strawberry Ice Cream is like summer in a bowl. It’s sweet, creamy, and tastes exactly like the gourmet stuff you’d spend way too on and get waaaaay too little.

Add them to pies. I personally have never met a pie I didn’t like. I like to kick off strawberry season with Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb pie and then ease my way into a classic Strawberry Pie. I get crazy like that.

For the grand finale of desserts, try making a Strawberry and Blueberry Trifle. Not only does it wow visually, but it combines strawberries, blueberries, whip cream, and vanilla cake. Um, hello, why are you still reading…you should be off making this stuff! 🙂

Comments

I like to make shortcake to go with my fresh strawberries. And my favorite pie is my mother’s strawberry rhubarb pie. ThT mix of sweet and tart sends me to the moon! We pick strawberries every year at a local farm, usually with friends. I remember one summer when the kids were little my friends son ate so many strawberries we joked that we should have weighed him before and after so we knew how many extra strawberries to pay for!!!

Thumbs up again for coming up with so many good ideas for me to try… My strawberry patch has finally hit it’s stride this year and I’m expecting a great harvest (doing a happy dance 🙂 can’t wait to try some of these. Thank you!